The Ultimate Universal Studios Japan Guide - Complete Experience | Tips & Tricks To Make The Most Of Your Universal Studios Japan Visit

The Japanese take their theme parks very seriously. To say that Universal Studios Japan (USJ) is famous is an understatement. It is extremely famous and extremely crowded most of the year. And if by chance you are planning to visit during a holiday or a festival, then it becomes even more essential to plan out your day so that you do not end up spending hours in lines for rides and restaurants. In this blog post I will talk about my experience, visiting on a super crowded day like Halloween i.e. 31st October and how I was able to finish whatever I wanted to do within half a day due to planning and of course the Univeral Express Pass.

Decadent Diaries Travel Tips

1. Buy your Universal Studios Japan Tickets in advance, you do not want to be waiting in line on the day of your visit to buy tickets. You can buy on their official website or from a reputed website like Klook which I did. The only benefit of Klook was that I got to pay in my home currency. It sometimes happens that your credit card may not work on the official website, in that case, you can try out another option like Klook etc. Klook sometimes has some offers and discount codes, do research before booking your tickets.

2. There is a limited amount of time and also a limited amount of stomach space, so shortlist your rides and foods to try. This would make your experience more streamlined rather than wanting to cover everything which may cause a lot of frustration due to long wait times. As even the express pass does not give you access to all the rides, it gives priority access to only a select few. So plan your day out such that you shortlist what you want to eat and which rides are a must in the park and create a plan of action.

3. They did not allow any water bottles inside the park due to security reasons. We did not carry any food but I guess that is also not allowed.

4. The Universal Studios Japan Express pass is super expensive, but it is so worth it in my opinion. As for me, the amount of time I saved from standing in long lines and the amount of frustration I saved myself from, made it worth it for me. They have many combinations depending upon your preferences and you have to choose fixed timings for some popular rides. It also gives you a timed entry into the popular Super Nintendo World which is necessary to visit that area of the park. Buy these also in advance as closer to the dates your preferred time slots may not be available. Plus I personally observed that closer to the dates the cost of these Express Passes was increasing steadily. I chose the Universal Studios Fun Variety pass which gave me express access to four rides - Mario Kart Koopa's Challange, Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, Despicable Me Minion Mayhem and Jaws. There were also passes that offered seven rides but as I am not fond of roller coasters and as that pass was charging me for one of those rides as well with no other alternatives, that pass would be a waste for me.

5. Please also note that each member of your party must have their own individual express pass.

6. If you do not wish to buy an express pass, you can download the official app of Universal Studios Japan and on the day of your visit scan your tickets and keep them ready in the app. Once you enter the park you can try your luck to get a free timed entry ticket to Super Nintendo World (SNW). This can happen only once you have scanned your tickets into the app and entered the park on the day of your visit.

7. Another way to get a timed entry ticket to SNW without the Express Pass is to buy it from websites like Klook along with your ticket.

8. Eat your meals at off-peak hours. For example, go for lunch at 11 AM as opposed to noon. Have the popular Mario pancake sandwich during breakfast hours rather than after lunch as the lines become very long then. Everything requires a plan of action as no matter where you go or when you go, in Japan you are most likely bound to encounter a lot of rush at parks.

9. When it comes to Kinopio's Cape inside SNW, that restaurant is super popular, so make sure the moment you enter SNW you go and check out the restaurant wait times and if they have a virtual line etc. then apply for the same before you head to explore SNW.

10. Look up the weather in advance. Carry the necessary umbrellas, caps etc. whatever may be required.

11. Comfortable shoes are a must, comfortable clothing is a must. Goes without saying but still wanted to specify.

12. People line up before the park opens, as the park usually opens a little bit before the official opening hours. And then they run towards SNW as early in the morning just when the park opens there is no entry restriction, that starts a little later. So now once you are in that area, you can rush towards the popular Mario Kart ride and you may encounter shorter lines as it is quite early. Then once the timed entry starts you book your free timed entry through the app so that once you exit SNW to visit other parts of the park, you can come back in later during the day with that timed entry. As once you exit SNW you can't come back with the same timed entry ticket. This is a trick that many people follow hence I wrote it for you. Personally, I didn't want to line up before the park opened, and I did not want to run to SNW. I just wanted to without any pressure, go to the park at a reasonable time. I reached there at 10:30 AM and as I had the express pass I did not use the app to get my free entry to SNW. That being said I could have tried for a free entry as well to come back to that area for a second time.

13. Google Maps is your friend in Japan. Japan's metro and train lines can be confusing. But Google simplifies it because when you put in your starting point and destination, it gives you all the options and combinations of trains, metro etc. that you can use to get to your destination. This simplified the process for us to get to USJ by public transport.

14. As I have mentioned in my other post of Spending a Week in Japan you need to have an IC card for the public transport mentioned above like ICOCA or SUICA, which you can load with a particular amount of yen and use on all public transport and even to buy items in some convenience stores.

15. I read online somewhere that Wednesdays and Thursdays are the best days to visit USJ for the least rush, as Mondays and Tuesdays are meant for school excursions. And the weekends are always crowded. I came on a Wednesday but still saw school kids in lines. Maybe because it was Halloween.

    

    When the option came to choosing to visit USJ or Disneyland Tokyo, I chose the former as Disneyland does not offer any express passes beforehand, they only offer Disney Premier Access to purchase on a per-ride basis on the day of your park visit after you have entered the park (as per my knowledge). So as I wanted to go tension-free and also wanted to experience Super Nintendo World in the country where Nintendo was founded, I chose USJ. I left from Namba at a leisurely pace at around 10 AM. Hence I missed the weekday office rush hours as well of 7 to 9 AM. We had to change trains at Nishikujo Station to proceed to Universal-City station. We reached Universal Studios Japan at around 10:30 AM, and of course, as it was Halloween a significant amount of rush was experienced just walking from the station to the entrance. Still, my spirits were quite high as at the back of my mind I was not tense due to having an express pass for my favorite rides. Along the way were the Universal Citywalk and many stores and restaurants catering to people proceeding to or from USJ after their visit. It was a very lively street but I was focused on proceeding straight to USJ.

The excitement built up as we saw the iconic rotating Universal Studios Logo, took our customary selfies at the entrance and went and stood in lines for the entry. The entry lines even at 10:30 AM were quite crowded and it took us around fifteen minutes to get in due to security checks. Our bottles of water were not allowed inside. The first thing we saw when we entered was the Hollywood area, with a main street through the middle lined with stores and restaurants. The excitement that you get when you first walk into a park is unlike anything else. Like me, hundreds of other park visitors were walking in all excited and some even ran toward their favorite rides.

Having a plan of action in mind after having read many posts online, I turned right from the Beverly Hills Boulangerie and first headed to the Mario Cafe & Store (Schwab's Pharmacy) which is surprisingly located not in SNW but in Hollywood. It is good in a way so that one can have the popular Mario Pancake snack whenever they want. This as mentioned in point seven above I covered during breakfast time as the lines became significantly longer during post-lunchtime. In cream sodas, they had Mario's strawberry soda and Luigi’s green apple soda. In the pancake sandwiches, they had the Mario’s cap Strawberry Shortcake and Luigi’s cap no-bake cheesecake. They also had collectible drink bottles and more. It took some time to place my order around fifteen minutes as the number of counters in operation was less, but overall the lines were quite short. Once you have placed your order, you stand on the other side and can watch friendly chefs behind the glass barriers freshly preparing these pancake snacks. It was like being in Candyland. I just got the most popular Mario Strawberry Pancake sandwich. I was not expecting much but when I bit into it, the pancake was soft and fresh and melted in the mouth, the custard and cream filling combined with the strawberries was a perfect combination. It was by far the best thing I ate at Universal Studios my entire day.

I walked further down that same line and came to the central lake in the park. There was a wide open space with water and one could see the various roller coasters in the background, the rush in this area was lesser so it gave some respite. It was around 11:15 AM and I decided to go for an early lunch as mentioned above in point seven especially on crowded days, eating at off-peak hours can help you save on waiting in long lines. We proceeded to Finnegan's Bar & Grill located in the New York area of the park. While on our way there we encountered the Kuromi Halloween-themed performance going on. This was near the Illumination Theatre Store. It was so fun to see young and old participate in the performance with their ribbons and copy the choreography of the dancers on stage with those ribbons.

We entered Finnegan's and even though we were early, the restaurant was quite full, we were given a number card and made to wait in the waiting area. However, within ten minutes our table was ready and we were seated. We ordered the falafel and the onion blossom (also known in many places as the blooming onion). The falafel was really bad but the blooming onion was mind-blowing with its dipping sauce and crunchy texture. We also had one of the seasonal-themed drinks from Biohazard, the Chris Redfield Spiced Soda and we got a special coaster as a gift to take with us because we had ordered that drink. The service was efficient and swift and we were done with our meal in less than half an hour.

As we stepped out we were lucky to experience the Pokemon Jumpin Halloween Party going on near the Universal Studios Souvenirs area. There was a huge stage with Pikachu, Gengar and more dancing in Halloween-themed clothing along with many enthusiastic dancers. It was extremely cute and fun to watch. Even though it was Halloween, they had also already put up a huge Christmas tree in that area as well. We still had some time left for our timed entry ride of Mario Kart in SNW, so we first headed to Minion Park to check out Despicable Me Minion Mayhem which was one of the four rides on our express passes. Minion Park area was adorable, with Minion-themed decor, restaurants and Minion statues greeting you all throughout this area. We showed our express passes at the entrance of the ride, and within ten minutes our turn came and this ride I loved a lot because it was a motion simulator so felt safe. There were lots of small drops and bumps in the simulator but all were pretty enjoyable and the story of this ride was fantastic!

Once done with that I went to try out the second treat on my list which was the Minion Cookie Sandwich at Delicious Me! The Cookie Kitchen. This was a banana-flavored ice cream sandwiched between two minion cookies. It looked better than it tasted, but still was glad that I got to try it. By then it was time to go for our timed entry into SNW. We walked towards that area and stood in line as they scanned our timed entries. The staff excitedly yelled Go! And raised their arms getting us pepped up for SNW.

Then we walked a bit further and came to the iconic Super Nintendo World Logo with the warp pipes. People stood there to take their photos and also to buy the bands that can be used to make your experience at SNW more interactive. I chose not to spend my money on these bands as I did not want to stand in long lines to play the games associated with these bands. Unfortunately, there is no skip-the-line option for these and if you do lose at one of the games you have to stand in line all over again to try. You need to win at least three games before you can enter the final challenge. I was very enthusiastic about this but I realized that it would just be a huge chaos and involve a lot of frustration of long lines to try to achieve this so decided to skip it. Also saved on the substantial amount that one had to spend just to buy these bands. And could spend that money on souvenirs etc instead. However, if you are interested in buying them, do not waste your time at the stall near the SNW entrance as the lines there are usually long. Many posts online advise entering the SNW area and getting the bands in the many stores inside SNW.

The sheer wonder you feel walking through the warp pipe to enter SNW was something else! Then you come to a small castle-type area with the main entryway, and all of us gasped as we stepped out of it to be greeted to the full view of the SNW area. That exit reveals the entire SNW area, before this you can't see it. The theming of this area is superb, you feel like you are actually in a Mario Game. The details and the scale of everything around you, it is as if you are Mario exploring this land. This area of course had the most rush at the park. We headed towards the Mario Kart ride and here is where the express pass helped a lot as the wait times were quite long. Our express passes helped us skip most of the line, but in the last leg, we joined the common line. From there it was around fifteen minutes including getting our visors and instructions of how to play (concentrate on that as it can be quite confusing). Compared to standing hours in a line, fifteen minutes was relatively okay.

Also, the indoor walk to the ride was very well-themed so was distracted by all the details. The ride is in the form of you sitting in an actual Mario Kart. You have the glasses that you put on your visor and strap yourself in. Through the glasses, you see the 3D animations of actually going through the Mario Kart game and you have a steering wheel with which you can shoot etc. It is a bit confusing as you need to turn your head left and right as well to see the full spectrum of all the things going on. Your objective is to win the game against the enemy and if you do then you get the victory-themed video in the end. I did enjoy this ride, but the 3D animations made me a bit dizzy and I felt there was too much going on which got in the way of fully enjoying the ride.

Once I stepped out I explored the souvenir shops and picked up some interesting Mario-themed earrings. I also realized that in the character meet and greets, the line to meet Princess Peach was luckily quite short. Usually, these character meet-and-greet lines are extremely long and popular. I jumped at the opportunity and got in line, and when my turn came I was asked to do poses with Princess Peach by the photographers which brought out the child in me! Princess Peach herself had many prerecorded messages that she spoke to us through. Honestly, I don't know how she was doing that but it was super cute. This is the one thing that I did feel worth it to spend money on, I purchased a photo of mine with Princess Peach in a themed frame from the photo store. I did not go to eat at the famous Kinopio's cafe as the options for vegetarians were pretty limited and once again I did not want to stand hours waiting in line to get in. Once I had my fill of this stunningly designed area of Super Nintendo World, I finally exited the area to head to my next ride.

As we had some time before the timed entry for the Forbidden Journey ride in Wizarding World, we headed to the second last of the four rides included in our Express Passes which was Jaws. Jaws is a somewhat dated ride in the Amity Village area based on the film of the same name. However, it is still pretty famous in the park. The lines were huge and once again we were glad we had Express Passes. We breezed ahead of everyone in a separate empty line and in hardly five minutes we were seated in one of the boats. The entire ride is in Japanese as the captains of the boats interact in Japanese, but it is very easy to understand what is going on generally despite the language barrier and it was a pretty decent ride. Do not sit in the corners of the boats or you may get wet. When we got off and walked around Amity Village we observed that the rush in all the areas had significantly gone up as now it was mid-afternoon. We then headed towards the Wizarding World of Harry Potter for the last ride included in our Express Pass.

This area of the theme park is close to SNW and we walked along a tree-lined path with the familiar theme music of Harry Potter getting louder as we reached closer. We entered through a large arch into Hogsmeade and wow was this area well-themed! On one side was the huffing and puffing Hogwarts Express, on the other were the famous stores like Honeydukes, Zonko's Joke Shop, the Three Broomsticks restaurant and more.

As we walked ahead there was Olivander's as well and a kart serving the famous butterbeer. There was a huge line for the same so I skipped it as I had already tried it in New York at the Harry Potter store. But then the best thing in this area came into full view.

Which was the Hogwarts Castle that housed the Forbidden Journey ride. This is one difference from when I had visited the Warner Brother Studios in London, over there they had a smaller model of the entire Hogwarts Castle. This on the other hand was life-sized. Plus it housed a ride as well! We were awestruck. We took a whole lot of pictures along the lake overlooking this mighty castle. Then we proceeded to the Forbidden Journey ride.

They made us put our bags etc in a locker for this ride, then due to the express pass once again the wait was hardly ten minutes and we sat in a set of chairs made for four people each with over-the-shoulder restraints. I was a little scared about what to expect as whenever you have over-the-shoulder restraints the ride can get a bit scary. The floor below us was moving us ahead and we were suddenly whisked off the ground by what I felt was a robotic arm and there were visuals in front of us taking us through the Harry Potter adventure and there were exciting twists, turns and some drops but it was not a rollercoaster, it was a motion-based dark ride. It actually felt like we were inside the movie! What an exhilarating experience this was! Hands down the best ride in the park, it beat out Mario Kart as well. I could have gone to the other ride here which was the Flight of the Hippogriff, but the lines were too long for a very short rollercoaster. Truly loved how this area of the park was done up. I was super impressed.

Now that I had basically covered all that I wanted to, I felt content enough to leave the park and go explore Osaka in the evening. As I had a limited amount of time on my vacation and missed out on half a day of sightseeing the day before due to flight delays, the Express Pass helped me cover the park in half a day so that I could head back to Osaka. We left the park at around 3:30 PM but there were so many people just entering the park at that time! That being said if I did have the time, I would have stayed back at the park and enjoyed the evening Halloween Festivities and events. This is not a sponsored post for USJ or anything, but I cannot explain how relaxed I felt just having one of those Express Passes, the crowds were truly overwhelming and that is the only thing that kept me calm.

In all honesty, I feel that theme parks must restrict the number of guests during a day, there should not be such overwhelming crowds and lines. But the craze for theme parks in Japan is next level so I guess that's why the rush is next level as well. But overall if I had to give my feedback about this park, yes it was completely amazing. The theming of the food and the areas, the enthusiasm of the park employees, the interactive rides, the Halloween shows and the nostalgia of visiting Harry Potter World and Nintendo was just wonderful. I had a fun time but I can say that if I did not have an Express Pass, this blog post would have been totally about how frustrating my experience was and nothing else considering the huge rush.

Overall I had a fun time and I hope this blog post gave you some good suggestions about how to plan your Universal Studios Japan Visit. Thank you for reading ❤️